Teacher/Mentor Profiles

Here are the Teachers, Mentors, and visiting Artists in Residence who will be guiding students through the Jungalbook Project.

	Tom Beck Athletic Director, Baker Demonstration School	Technical Director
	David Blix Professional Stage Fight Choreographer	Fight Choreographer
	Becky Crawford Technology Teacher, Baker Demonstration School	Media/Business Team
	Orilla Cruse Marketing & Communications Manager Baker Demonstration School	Media/Business Team Marketing, Promotions
	Gita Tanner-Drape Professional Actress Gita discovered acting when she was 9 years old while studying at Piven Theatre. She continued studying and touring with Piven Theatre’s Young People’s Company through Highschool graduation. After receiving a BFA in Acting at The University of IL at Champaign/Urbana, Gita acted professionally on Chicago area stages and in a few feature films. In addition to acting, Gita has taught theatre games for children ages 9 – 14 at Piven Theatre. When Gita became a mom, she switched her theatrics to interior design and presently works with her own interior design company.	Actor Mentor
	Meg Grgurich Artist in Residence Meg is an accomplished scenic painter and designer. She has worked with many theaters in the Chicago area including Lookingglass, the Goodman, TimeLine, Drury Lane, Lifeline, Paramount, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, and Steppenwolf. She has painted scenery for the Utah Shakespeare Festival and designed costumes and scenery for Perry-Mansfield Performing Arts School & Camp in Colorado. She holds a B.F.A. in Painting from the Savannah College of Art & Design. Meg was the Artist in Residence at Baker in 2010 for A Midsummer Night's Dream and is thrilled to work with the exceptional students and staff here again.	Professional Scenic Painter Costume Design Mentor
	Mike Gnutek Art Teacher Baker Demonstration School	Set Design Mentor
	Jamee Guerra Music Teacher Baker Demonstration School	Orchestra/Music Mentor
	Brian Hagy Information Systems Manager Baker Demonstration School	Media/Business Team Video Production, Photography, Graphic Design
	Doug Haight Professional Photographer & Filmmaker Fortune Fish Films Doug Haight has been a professional photographer and filmmaker for more than 20 years. He received hisundergraduate degree from University of Michigan, his MFA from Columbia College and he is the owner of Evanston based Fortune Fish Films. In 2012 Fortune Fish completed fundraising and admissions videos for Baker. In addition to Jungalbook, Mr Haight also mentored Baker students for previous middle school productions of The Emperor's Groovy New Clothes and A Midsummer Nights Dream. He is the father of Baker middle schoolers Sophie and Francie Haight.	Media/Business Team Video Production/Photography
	Kara Karstadt Artist in Residence Actor's Gym, Evanston, Illinois	Artist-in-Residence in Acting
	Lee Nagan Designer & Publisher FishEye Graphics Lee Nagan is helping the Media Group with print production of the program and posters. He started his company, Fisheye Graphic Services, over 20 years ago. Fisheye Graphic Services specialize in design and printing of direct mail, publications, and a wide range of printed materials, as well as digital production and websites. He always enjoys working with the kids at Baker.	Media/Business Team
	Larry Schoeneman Owner, Design Lab Chicago	Lighting Design Mentor
	Scott Shimizu Apprentice Artist in Residence and Actor Scott Shimizu could not be more excited to be working with such a talented and enthusiastic group of young artists. Scott recently graduated from Northwestern University, where he studied Theatre and Musical Theatre. While at Northwestern, Scott was actively involved with Purple Crayon Players, a student theatre board focused on providing theatre and arts programming for young audiences. Favorite past credits at Northwestern include Equus, Kiss of the Spider Woman, and Jungalbook (in which he played Sherakhan). Look for Scott in Erasing the Distance's upcoming production, The Small, Dark Room. Enjoy the show!	Acting Mentor
	Kimeri Swanson-Beck Director of Teaching and Learning, Baker Demonstration School	Project Co-Designer Producer
	Will Wenzel Associate Teacher Middle School	Properties Design Supervisor
	Lizanne Wilson Drama Teacher Baker Demonstration School Lizanne Wilson has been the Drama Specialist at Baker Demonstration School for 18 years. A professional actress, singer and teacher, she was member of the acting company at The Children's Theatre Company in Minneapolis, where she also redesigned the Performing Apprentice Program as Program Director and Master Teacher. As an educational consultant, she gives workshops to students and teachers throughout the United States. She has read her radio essays on teaching and motherhood on "MOMBO" through Pacifica Radio Network. A proud member of Actor's Equity Association, her favorite roles include Ida in Die Fledermaus at the Lyric Opera of Chicago with Maestro Julius Rudel, Lemon in Wallace Shawn's Aunt Dan and Lemon, singing in a million musicals and raising her two daughters, Cate and Margaret, with her partner, Todd Hensley. At Baker, she recently adapted two young adult novels into musicals with Mrs. Guerra. Ms. Wilson has directed productions at Baker including A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Emperor's Groovy New Clothes for the middle school. Ms Wilson is inspired by her Baker students and colleagues and is passionate about promoting social justice through art.	Jungalbook Director Project Co-Designer